A History of Simplicity
by Moonchild10
Summary: When Haruhi Fujioka enrolled at Ouran Academy, she had never imagined herself being unwittingly pulled into a love triangle. She is about to learn just how capricious life can truly be. NOW COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran. Bisco Hatori does._

_I originally wrote this for ouran_contest's "history" challenge on LJ. Since it's quite long, it'll end up being 3 or 4 chapters. I hope a few of you bear with me until the end XD I love writing Tamaki x Haruhi, especially in this kind of context. This was beta read by lovinjerryt and euphoric_words 8D_

_This is posted on LJ as __Une Histoire de Simplicité._

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Haruhi had a history, she knew, of making rather rash decisions on the spot, despite the fact that she was sensible by nature and knew better than to rush into things without thinking. The fact that she did it anyway was tied to the truth that deep down, though she knew it was all wrong, her emotions and her curiosity often got the better of her. It was mostly because of this facet of her personality that she was currently walking back toward music room three not five minutes after classes had ended, hand still clenched around the beautifully scripted note from one Éclair Tonnerre that currently lay in her pocket. There was nothing wise or necessary about heeding the request of the note, but there was some subtle curiosity that drew her toward her destination, some kind of faint desire to know exactly what it could possibly be that this strange French girl, the very woman who had previously been engaged to Tamaki and had nearly threatened to change all that they held dear, wanted from her.

Éclair was already inside the music room when Haruhi entered, adjusting the strap of her school bag more comfortably on her shoulder. With careful slowness she made her way toward the elegant girl who stood patiently in the middle of the room. She had previously been examining a painting on the wall, but upon hearing Haruhi enter, she had fixed her eyes on her with an almost predatory stare. Haruhi drew her hand from her pocket.

"I'm glad you decided to meet me here," Éclair's voice was smooth as silk, and as she turned her eyes on Haruhi, the girl under her stare could feel the distinct sensation of being invaded. She was beginning to wonder if this was a good idea. Éclair had the same sense of quiet, predatory grace as a panther, and she looked, for the moment, as though she was about to make Haruhi her prey. It was knowing this that kept her extremely wary as she turned her eyes toward Éclair's startlingly blue ones without faltering. It took more courage than she knew she had.

"What did you want to talk about, exactly?" she asked, looking around the empty expanse of the third music room. There were no brightly colored costumes or babbling customers chatting idly with the Hosts at painted tea tables, and the effect was almost eerie. It seemed odd to see the place empty, but she shook off this thought and turned her attention back to Éclair. This was all about business, she was sure. "Is this about Tamaki-senpai?"

"Not really," Éclair said idly, adjusting the strap of her red dress and then turning her eyes back to meet Haruhi's. For a moment, Haruhi felt as though she was being frozen. "Though I did think it was touching that you would risk your life to bring him back to your little club. You really must care about him."

"None of the others really knew how to function without him around…"

"But you didn't either, did you?" Éclair reached out a hand and cupped Haruhi's chin. Haruhi stared up at the taller girl in surprise.

Eyes narrowing, Éclair lowered her head to ghost her lips slowly across Haruhi's, taking in the softness of the other girl's skin. Her fingers, moving with a fluid grace she knew this awkward Japanese girl would never hope to possess, teased loose hairs back behind Haruhi's ear. Haruhi had stiffened in surprise at the kiss, but now she was more or less relaxed again and seemed to be waiting curiously for what was going to happen next. It seemed less that she wanted to be kissed again than that she simply wanted to know what would transpire if she and Éclair stayed in this position. For a moment, a flare of possessiveness shot through Éclair's body, surprising and amusing her. This girl was strange and intriguing to Éclair, and it felt exhilarating to kiss her again, with more force this time, and hear the small, barely audible moan that slipped up from Haruhi's throat. There was something about her that made Éclair both fascinated and bold, and she ran with it as naturally as she could, soaking up her feeling of control. She was the one who held the cards at this moment, and it was delicious. "Tamaki is a lucky man to have you, isn't he?"

"What?" Haruhi's large eyes were confused as they looked up into Éclair's, azure meeting chocolate and melting together in a whirlpool of confused emotions. They were the eyes of a deer, innocent and childlike in the light they exuded despite the sense of practicality that Haruhi carried herself with. Éclair gave a satisfied smile. _'She doesn't even know he has feelings for her…' _she thought. _'He's too simple to show her his feelings. It's a good thing I don't have the same problem.'_

Slowly, Éclair moved away, leaving Haruhi standing alone with a confused expression on her face. Smiling deftly, she turned to weave her graceful way toward the double doors. She would leave Haruhi with thoughts of the encounter, and sooner or later the girl would come to her, drawn to her like a moth to flame. For better or for worse, she would have her. Éclair was not a narcissistic woman, but she knew that she had feminine wiles that were variably impossible for men to resist; she knew this based on pure fact and reason, rather than casual self-assurance. She was sure that in this regard a woman, even if she was Haruhi Fujioka, would be no different.

As Éclair stepped out through the doors of the charming music room that the Host Club held its duties in, she nearly collided with a tall blonde figure who stiffened slightly at the sight of her. She gave a smile up at him, assessing his posture and expression all at once in less than the time it took to blink and storing the information away for later use. Sweet, simple Tamaki, who would never even know what he was missing out on, because she was clever enough to get it first. In the time she had known him, she had learned that he was many things; kind, gentle, innocent, rather sharp-witted when it came to matters of importance. But he could never hope to be called clever, for which Éclair was secretly grateful for a moment.

"Hello, Tamaki," she said conversationally, and his tenseness melted away as he gave her a smile. She knew even in such a short time since meeting him that he was powerless to resist the temptation to be pleasant with a lady. It was also one of the many things his mother had gushed about as she brushed her hair.

"Good evening, Lady Éclair," he said politely in French, as guileless as ever. His eyes were guarded in a way she didn't expect, but his graciousness did not seem forced. "What brings you to Ouran? Not going back to France yet?"

Éclair shook her head and then reached her hand up to stroke his cheek delicately, careful not to scratch him with her red-painted nails. He jumped a little under her hand as though her fingers burned him. "No, I've got something to do first," she explained, still stroking his face. "But Tamaki, it seems that you might have a harder time winning over your Haruhi than you thought."

Tamaki's face was blank. "Wh-what?" he asked, pure confusion seeping over his features. And then realization. He was not as daft as everyone liked to believe, and she could see the quick wit in his eyes now, his brain turning as he processed the hidden meaning behind her words. "Éclair, what are you…"

But she turned and headed down the hallway away from him, leaving him to ponder the matter without another word, almost enjoying the way she could feel him staring open-mouthed at her retreating back like some kind of mental patient. She knew the whole setup was cruel, but she was tired of being lonely. Tired of being denied. Éclair was, despite her place in society as a privileged young woman who would someday inherit a large fortune, not nearly as fortunate as logic would dictate. For once, she had taken what she so deeply yearned for, even if it had the potential to tear her ex-fiancé to bits.

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Tamaki was stunned beyond speech, and as he watched Éclair move gracefully down the hall, the realization slowly sunk in. She had done something to Haruhi. Something… something… he wasn't exactly sure what it was (he couldn't be sure exactly what to put past Éclair, as he had not known her for very long), but he rushed into the room before him anyway, ready to take on any scene that might meet him. He was as wound up as a spring, ready to uncoil on cue, and it was with this sense of preparation that he burst in through the double doors, eyes scanning the room like a madman. He wasn't sure what he had expected, but it certainly hadn't been Haruhi standing in the middle of the room, completely unharmed but looking pensive.

"Haruhi!" he was on her in a flash, wrapping his arms around the girl briefly and then pulling back. "What happened? Oh, my poor, precious daughter! Tell daddy all about it!"

"Nothing happened, senpai…" she said, though she looked more than a bit shaken, and Tamaki, horrified, pulled her against his chest. It was with a leap of the heart that her cheek came to meet him, warm and comfortable and absolutely… _perfect_, that contact between them.

"I don't believe you," he declared dramatically, cooing paternally as he brushed his face against her hair. He vaguely ignored the soft, feminine scent of lilies that burst forth to tempt his senses into distraction. "Now, you need to tell me what happened…" his expression and voice were serious, something odd and foreign in the gaiety of this room. It felt almost sacrilegious to ignore the usual cheer of the voices that echoed here. "Because you look like something really did happen."

"Senpai… it was nothing," a light blush rose up on her cheeks at the memory of those warm lips pressing hers, cherry flavored and oh-so soft. She should not have enjoyed it, that much was clear to herself, and it was enough to make her slightly ashamed. At the sight of her blush, Tamaki flew off the handle yet again.

"Clearly you're too traumatized to tell me!" he gasped, bringing a hand up to cover his face in a wild fit of melodrama that Haruhi knew only too well. "I'm going to have a small chat with Éclair, but don't worry. Daddy will be back soon!"

"Tamaki-senpai…" she began, but he had already flown out he door, fueled by the enormity of his assumptions of the situation and running as fast as his long legs would allow (which was, to be fair, faster than she had assumed was even physically possible for a human). Haruhi sighed and watched him go, wishing for a moment that Tamaki was one who could be reasoned with. Life would be so much simpler and filled with so much less drama if he had the ability to listen to the facts now and then. She moved over to one of the velvet sofas to mull things over, and as she sank slowly onto the plush cushions she became aware of the fact that her lips still tingled from the kiss. Her blush rose higher and she scolded herself for getting caught up in it.

"It didn't mean anything, Haruhi," she said aloud, sternly. "She just kissed you to confuse you, that's all."

"That kiss didn't _look_ like it was meant to confuse you, Haruhi…" came a devious voice from behind her, and she jumped slightly, turning to see two red-haired figures advancing on her. The one who had spoken was Kaoru, she figured quickly, as she watched them take seats on either side of her.

"She probably _likes you_," Hikaru said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"What?" Haruhi looked back and forth between the two twins, who sighed synonymously at the clueless girl, shrugging their shoulders. She fixed them each with their own incredulous look so there could be no doubt of how perplexed she was by the situation.

"It would be a shame if that harlot stole _our_ Haruhi, wouldn't it, Kaoru?"

"It really would."

"What?" Haruhi asked again, confusion overtaking her. They sighed again

"You're hopeless," they declared, each sliding one arm around her solemnly.

Meanwhile, Tamaki had managed to catch up to Éclair by now, and he was breathing heavily as he came up behind her in a way that suggested he had run in from another continent. She stopped walking at the sight of him, and though she knew very well what this was about, she played innocent for his benefit. There was something vaguely exhilarating about playing the role of the naïve, blameless one in the situation. It was almost enough to make her feel guilty.

"Yes, Tamaki? What is it?"

"What…" pant. "Did you do to Haruhi?"

"Nothing bad," Éclair reassured him, a small smile slipping across her lips as she stared up into the blonde boy's eyes. She could feel a kind of cold venom seeping into her that was not entirely unpleasant. _'This is what happens when you break someone's heart… there is a chance they will turn around and break yours in turn.'_ Revenge was nowhere in her mind in the situation, but in a way, revenge was happening whether she wanted it or not. It was almost too good not to enjoy, though she realized in some small place inside that it made her a bad person to get joy out of this. "I only kissed her."

Instantly, Tamaki's face went white as a sheet, the transition from delicious peach to stark white almost too quick to perceive and certainly not healthy. His eyes widened, fixed on her face, and he began to tremble. "You did what!?" suddenly, the calm charm that she had experienced from him since they had met was shattered as he fell to his knees, bringing his hands up to his face in a fit of drama she had not expected. "Noooo! My poor, precious daughter! Her lips, defiled!"

Slightly disturbed, Éclair backed away a few feet, almost afraid of what he was going to do next. She was unsure of exactly what was going on, but she was beginning to see the bare truth laid out before her eyes; Tamaki Suoh was completely insane.


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I still don't own Ouran. That would be Bisco Hatori._

_So, I've looked everything over, and this chapter is going to be chapter two of four. It's also the chapter where things start really heating up, you could say XD God, I love writing Haruhi. She's just so adorable and such a interesting character with so much depth._

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Haruhi was peacefully returning from her post-supermarket trip to the post office when the course of her morning changed dramatically. It did not seem like it would be such a significant change when it first happened; she reached into the pocket of her jeans to fish out her keys as she walked toward her apartment building, and when she looked up she caught sight of her blonde senpai sitting on the bottom step, chin resting in his hands, a pensive expression on his face. He looked almost dead to the world, and she wondered for a moment if she slapped him or screamed in his ear, would he even notice?

"Tamaki-senpai, what are you doing here?" more than a bit confused, Haruhi walked up to the base of the stairs toward Tamaki, who looked up at her and stared at her blankly for a moment. It took a moment for her to figure out whether he actually didn't know who she was or if he was simply dazed.

"Oh, Haruhi! I… came to see you because I wanted to say… but now I'm not thinking it's such a good idea. I… well… how are you today!?"

Haruhi was more than a bit bemused, but she shifted her shopping bags a little and then set them down on the ground and took a seat beside him on the step, shifting around until she was comfortable and then turning her head to look at him. "I'm fine. But I'm more concerned about how _you_ are. You haven't been at school for two days. Is there some special reason for that? Did you get sick?"

Tamaki gulped and shook his head. "No…"

"Then what?"

"Well, I just… I guess I was… I was thinking."

"You took two days off from school to think?" Haruhi fixed him with a rather confused expression and watched him twiddle his thumbs. "Could you really not think while you were there?" he was impossible, but something told her there was much more to the situation than that, and it was this that kept her silent and listening intently to what he was going to say next.

"Sort of. Well, I… it's complicated. I was mulling some things over."

"Are you ever planning to tell me what's going on, senpai?"

"Yes." Tamaki exhaled heavily, deflating slightly. "Is it true… that Lady Éclair… kissed you?"

"What?" Haruhi went a bit red at that. "Why does that ma--"

Tamaki turned his torso around and gripped both of Haruhi's shoulders, staring her squarely in the eyes. She was hit with the realization that when Éclair had looked at her like this, she had felt invaded, but when it was Tamaki who was doing it, she simply felt… safe. "I need you to answer that question straight, Haruhi!"

Slowly, Haruhi sucked in a long breath and then let all the air escape. "Yeah."

"I _knew it_!" her senpai wailed, still holding onto her shoulders as he drooped and let his head fall against her chest. His shoulders began to shake as a fit of melodrama overcame him, and Haruhi steeled herself for the oncoming storm. "I should have seen it! All of the signs were there! My darling daughter is a lesbian!"

"Hold it! What do you mean 'all the signs were there'? I didn't even say I liked it!" Haruhi argued, trying to push him off. He was much stronger than she was, however, especially when he was having a fit, and it was a hopeless struggle. She gave in and let him cling helplessly to her, aware of his body trembling madly.

"I should have known it was too good to be true! The way you came after me and rescued me like some kind of fairy tale prince… I really thought for a moment that you… but now it's clear to me that you… and you just…"

"Hold it for a minute, senpai," Haruhi tried again, a vein throbbing in her temple. "I don't even know what you're--"

"It all seems a fleeting dream now! That glorious moment when I felt that we might actually become… but then Lady Éclair is… and you are her lesbian lov--"

"SENPAI!" Haruhi fairly shouted, and it shut him up immediately. Relieved, she took a moment to enjoy the sudden silence she had created and then looked him straight in the eye as she spoke. This whole thing was getting unreasonably out of hand, and she was reminded for the millionth time just why it was so exhausting to deal with him. "I don't know what the twins or whoever else told you, but it was just a kiss. That's all. And it wasn't my idea. It does not make me a lesbian. Being exclusively attracted to females would make me a lesbian. And I'm not. So I'm not a lesbian. And it doesn't even matter, anyway. If I was, it wouldn't make me a different person. So why are you screaming about it?"

Looking a little sheepish, Tamaki reached out and fiddled with the hem of the dress she wore over her jeans. "Haruhi?"

"Yeah?" Haruhi turned her eyes back to the boy who was looking at anything and everything but her. Pointedly avoiding her eyes, he looked more nervous than she had ever seen anyone look in her life, and it made her a bit wary and more than a bit intrigued.

"I have my reasons. And I don't really know if I want to tell you them just yet. But if I could _show_ you them instead… would you… can you promise you won't be mad?"

"Well, I don't know what you're going to do, so I can't promise anything," Haruhi raised an eyebrow at him. "But I can try."

"Alright." Tamaki sucked in a long, gaspy breath and then reached up and, without warning, gently cupped her cheeks. His hands were warm on her face and they fit perfectly over the contours of her cheeks as though they were specifically designed to fit there. It was an odd sensation, and one that made her pause for longer than she meant to before reacting.

"Tamaki-senpai…" Haruhi muttered, raising her eyebrow again and looking him pointedly in the eye. "… what are you doing?"

"Showing you," he whispered. With that he squeezed his eyes shut and kissed her. All rational thought flew from Haruhi's mind and she was left stunned, unreasonable, speechless. She sat and let him kiss her in a way she had never imagined, not in a million years, that she would have allowed. Maybe there was still some trauma laced into the fact that she had nearly lost him for good… there _had_ to be an explanation for why she was allowing him to kiss her this way and for why her heart lurched in her chest and her hands shook.

Tamaki was definitely hesitant and unsure, but he was, as he was about every other facet of his life, irrepressibly passionate. He kissed her as though he had not seen her for a thousand centuries, as though stars had come to be and then burned away in the expanse of time between them. But there _was_ no time between them to account for this, and the effect was that Haruhi's head swam in an almost delicious way and she almost forgot who she was.

This was different from being kissed by Kanako or even Éclair; there was _fire_ in this kiss, a kind of raw passion that she had never expected to feel directed toward her. When his uncertainty lessened and Tamaki began stroking her cheeks with his fingertips and then slowly laced his fingers through her hair and pulled her closer to him, reality was instantly shattered like the vase that had initially brought their lives into orbit with each other. She suddenly knew what it was like to be Tamaki; living in a glittering realm of fantasy and accomplishing the impossible just because you wanted to. She found herself in the impossible situation of being cradled gently in the lap of her senpai and thoroughly, passionately kissed by his usually rambling mouth, her hair caressed tenderly by those large but oh-so gentle hands. A week ago, if someone had suggested she would be in this position, she probably would have politely but firmly informed them that they were completely insane.

This whole situation was insane, she decided, though for some strange reason she could not bring herself to push him away, back into the realm of decency. She had been forced to run a mile for fitness testing the previous year in middle school, and she recalled with a bit of concern that afterward her heart had not been beating nearly this fast, nor this hard, as it was at this very moment. There had to be some logical explanation, she rationalized, but the logic eluded her for the moment. _'Maybe I just have feelings for him,'_ she reasoned, _'Maybe that's what all this means. But… then, wouldn't I have had them for a long time? I guess that would explain why I was so crushed when I thought I was losing him before.'_ she kissed him back as she pondered these things, letting her train of logical thought carry her places she really didn't want it to. _'And he's kissing me, so does that mean he has feelings for me, too? I mean… assuming that I even have feelings for him, of course!'_

It seemed a bit odd to her that her hands moved without her real consent to grip the front of Tamaki's shirt almost desperately. His lips were softer and warmer than she could have imagined, and she felt, for lack of a better sentiment, like she was trapped in a scene from a tawdry romance novel. _'It's just a simple kiss… it shouldn't be making me feel like this. Éclair kissed me two days ago, and I didn't react like this…'_

When Tamaki pulled away slowly and gave her a long, hard look, Haruhi's hands were still trembling. Perched in his lap, she had a perfect view of his extremely red face as he gasped a little and then averted his eyes from her.

"That… that's all I wanted to say," he said, looking a little nervous and playing meekly with the edge of her dress again, a childish and compulsive gesture.

"Oh…" was all Haruhi could say. She blinked incredulously at him for a moment, wondering briefly if this moment and all it contained would suddenly dissolve around her and be a dream. "You… um…"

Tamaki's hand was shaking as it gently caressed the side of her face and he looked back at her. Slowly he took several deep breaths. Haruhi had never seen him so desperately nervous and unsure, and that in itself was enough to make the moment seem rather important.

"Please, before you choose to begin any sort of relationship with Lady Éclair… think of the way that kiss made you feel…" Tamaki bowed his head slightly. Haruhi was not accustomed to seeing him so timid.

"I wasn't… planning on having any sort of relationship with Éclair…" Haruhi stammered softly, blinking at him with a kind of resolute confusion. "She kissed me. I didn't ask for it. It didn't mean anything."

"Every kiss means something!" Tamaki gasped, grasping her shoulders.

"Then… what did the one just now mean?" she asked him slowly, and the color in his cheeks flared up again. He didn't seem to want to look at her, and when he did, he was shaking a little.

"It meant that… that I… like you, Haruhi…" the blonde stammered slowly, meeting her eyes. "And not as your father, or as your senpai! As… as… something much more than that! I really do like you, Haruhi!" finally, Tamaki seemed to calm down a bit, and fixed her with a barely nervous smile, his eyes shining with sincerity. "So please, before you consider anything with Éclair… consider me too."

"S--senpai…" for a moment, Haruhi's mind froze. All she could do was stare blankly at him as he shifted, setting her gently down on the step and compulsively adjusting his sweater. She did her best to open her mouth, but when she did all that came out was a wheezing sound.

"I'll go now… give you some time to think," Tamaki's smile was full of hope and fear, and the soft thuds of his feet as he walked a few steps seemed to echo in Haruhi's ears. "But please, Haruhi…" Tamaki turned his head to look at her for a moment. "When you know what you want to say to me… please say it without hesitating first, alright? It's… killing me enough not hearing how you feel now as it is." he smiled a bit playfully as he said this.

"I… yes," Haruhi replied, standing up and brushing out her dress before picking up her shopping bags. "But you don't have to go, senpai. You could come inside and I could make you some food or--"

"It's probably better this way," Tamaki rubbed a hand over the back of his neck and laughed a little. "Kyouya says it makes it really hard to think when I'm around. But you'll… let me know, won't you?"

"Of course…" Haruhi blushed inexplicably and watched him walk toward the black limousine that was parked waiting for him at the curb. She stood numbly on the steps until the shiny black car has disappeared from view before she walked up the steps and fitted the key into the lock, letting herself into the apartment. The instant she was inside, she closed the door behind her and leaned against it hard, pressing her cool hands to her flaming cheeks and then to her recently-kissed mouth. "What am I going to do?"


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: Bisco Hatori owns Ouran and its characters, not me._

_Well, here's chapter 3, and it's a doozy XD thanks to everyone who's been reading and the two of you that've reviewed. If you're reading this and just lurking, I'd appreciate if you'd review and tell me what you think, whether it be good or bad. I love feedback in general._

_Chapter 4 will be up soon.  
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When Ryouji Fujioka came home from work, the apartment seemed to be in perfect working order. "Haruhi, I'm home!" the okama shouted as he hung his light jacket on the hook beside the door and kicked off his shoes, glancing into the living room.

"Haruhi?" he called softly, poking his head in farther. The living room appeared to be deserted. It was clear the apartment had been cleaned meticulously by someone in a great ferocity, and Ryouji smiled a little, brushing his hair back as he walked across the living room and to Haruhi's bedroom door, knocking lightly on the wood.

"Haruhi?" he asked, and when Haruhi did not answer, he pushed open the door and peeked inside the tiny room. Ryouji smiled fondly at the sight of Haruhi sprawled on her futon, eyes fixed on but clearly looking past the textbook she had open before her. "Haruhi?" he tried again, and this time Haruhi jumped, her eyes raising to focus themselves on his face. She looked a little shaken and more than a little confused, and he could not help finding her expression adorable.

"Oh… Dad. Welcome home. When did you get back?" Haruhi asked, sitting up and giving him her full attention, though it was clear to him from the slightly glazed look in her clear eyes that her mind was still partially elsewhere.

"Just a moment ago," he said cheerfully. "And how long have you been pretending you were studying?"

"E--eh?" Haruhi asked, snapping the book shut rather defensively. "I… _was_ studying."

"Your eyes were looking right through that book, Haruhi!" Ryouji informed her. "What could possibly be on your mind? You usually study so wholeheartedly!"

"It's nothing," Haruhi insisted, shoving her book back into her school bag and getting up from the futon. She was slightly embarrassed that she was so easy to read, but given the fact that it was her father, it didn't bother her nearly as much as it would have if it had been one of the hosts. "You want me to make some tea?"

"That would be lovely, thank you," her father said with a nod. Haruhi squeezed past him to get to the living room , and she was aware of the fact that he subsequently followed her into the kitchen. Her father took a seat at the kitchen table without bothering to go and change into his street clothes. He rested his chin on his hands and regarded her like a hawk, and Haruhi turned her back on him and busied herself digging out some tea. "But Haruhi, please tell Daddy what's bothering you!"

"I told you, it's nothing," Haruhi said in what she hoped was a convincing tone, wobbling a bit as she pulled the teapot from the overhead cupboard. She knew he was not one to give up easily, and it made her wish for a moment that her father was a more easily distracted man when it came to her personal life.

"Look, Haruhi, I know you're independent and you don't like to feel like you're leaning on anyone, which is why you never tell Daddy anything, but just this once, please please please tell him what's troubling you!" Ryouji was whining now, and Haruhi sighed heavily. "It would make Daddy very happy!"

"Fine…" Haruhi sucked in a long, hard breath and then let it out very slowly, stalling for time. "If you're going to whine like that, then I'll tell you to make you stop, okay?"

"I wasn't whining…" Ryouji protested, but he seemed to have calmed down a bit, and Haruhi took several more deep breaths and pretended to be extremely interested in opening the package of tea bags she had purchased at the supermarket that afternoon. Somehow, anything in the world seemed easier than divulging the events of this particular afternoon at the moment. For a moment she actually wished she was in the world of the history textbook she had been attempting to read a moment ago; the challenge of leading a group of men to victory against a rival shogun seemed far less daunting than telling her father she had kissed a boy… and enjoyed it, no less.

"Um… Dad?"

"Yes, Haruhi?"

"Um… when was the first time you kissed someone and it… meant something?" Haruhi asked, hoping to be as vague as possible while still getting some answers.

"Oh? That would have to have been the first time I kissed your mother," a slightly dreamy glaze came over her father's face and she experienced a momentary craving for doughnuts. "We were on our very first date-- right after we became engaged, incidentally!-- and I leaned across the table and she came at the same time. We bumped noses pretty hard, but after that, it was magical!"

"So you were in love with her then, right?"

"Of course!"

"Um… how did it feel different from… kissing someone you _didn't_ have feelings for?" Haruhi's face was growing steadily redder as she discussed these rather unpleasantly private subjects with her father, and she tried to drown her embarrassment in struggling again to open the packaging of the tea bags.

"Well, that first time I kissed Kotoko, I could hardly catch my breath! My hands shook, my heart pounded, and I… I felt like I was flying!" in his moment of reminiscence, Ryouji's voice took on the excited sparkle of a young boy, but almost immediately she heard him snap back down to Earth. "Why?" he asked, rather suspiciously.

"Uh…" Haruhi was saved by the sound of the doorbell. "Could you get that please? I'm still making the tea!" she said quickly, waving her hands in the direction of the door.

"Alright," Ryouji said as he stood "But I expect an answer at the very next convenient moment!"

"Sure…" Haruhi breathed a sigh of relief, trying to ignore the fact that she was shaking all over now and beginning to fill the teapot with water. She turned on the stove and set the kettle on the burner, but all the while she was performing the mundane tasks, her hands were shaking slightly. _'The way he described it… sure sounded like the way I felt when Tamaki-senpai kissed me. So… that's settles it. My suspicions were right. I really must--'_

"Haruhi!" her father's voice sounded rather chipper for someone who had just discovered the possibility that his daughter had kissed someone. "You have a visitor!"

"Oh?" Haruhi turned around as she heard her father returning. She was not entirely sure who she expected to see when she turned… possibly Tamaki or the twins or even Mori and Hunny. But the last person she expected to see was the one who stood in her small kitchen wearing a rather elegant scoop neck sweater and a skirt that showed off her pale calves; Éclair Tonnerre.

"It's simply lovely to meet you, Éclair-chan! You're so grown up… you must be twenty, at least! I had no idea my Haruhi had such mature friends." Ryouji was gushing rather informally. "Haruhi, you didn't mention that you had such a lovely French woman as a friend!"

"No, I didn't…" Haruhi muttered, giving Éclair a slightly wary look. Those piercing blue eyes were already focused on her with a kind of ferocity.

"I'll go in the living room so you girls can have some privacy!" Ryouji said, nodding slightly to Éclair as he shuffled out of the room. "It was lovely to meet you! Haruhi, make sure to offer our guest some tea!"

"Sure, Dad," Haruhi said, turning her attention to Éclair, who was regarding her with a certain interest. "What are you doing here?" it was a sentence that was only curious, not particularly malicious, and Éclair smiled slightly, the lipstick on her mouth gleaming faintly in under the kitchen lights. It struck Haruhi for a moment that she had never met anyone so noticeably beautiful and so very devious in her life.

"I came to see you," Éclair said, shifting the European leather bag she was holding and glancing at her surroundings in the same curious and calculating way she looked at Haruhi. "Such a quaint place. I've never been in an apartment before."

"How did you know where I lived?" Haruhi asked, and Éclair smiled slightly.

"For an elite school, Ouran Academy's student files are rather easy to obtain," she said delicately, taking at seat at the kitchen table and resting her chin gracefully on her slender hands. "You're a host, aren't you? So aren't you going to offer me some tea?"

"Sure, when it's finished," Haruhi gave her a disarming smile, wondering if she should feel safe or threatened. "Um… how much sugar do you want in it? And how about milk?"

"I'll you decide that," Éclair said with a smile that was more of a smirk. "That kind of thing doesn't matter to me." Haruhi was saved from that penetrating stare by the sound of the kettle whistling, and quickly she spun and removed it from the burner. She poured the tea into two cups and dropped a tea bag in each, moving to the table and sliding Éclair a cup before taking a seat across from her.

"It'll be a while before it's done steeping," Haruhi said conversationally, and Éclair stared with some amusement into her teacup.

"A teabag? My, commoners certainly are resourceful. I've never even seen one before."

"Éclair-san?" Haruhi asked with a timidity that she did not want to feel, and Éclair once more fixed her with those chillingly blue eyes. "What did you come here for? I have a feeling you had something more in mind than just a pleasant visit for tea."

"You're so shrewd, Haruhi," Éclair said with that rather telling and unpleasant smile of hers. "I suppose I did have motivation for coming here today."

"Well, what was it?" Haruhi asked. She was tired of being civil; this girl didn't seem to have the slightest inkling of what common decency was, and it was grating on her nerves. "You're not going to kiss me again, are you?"

Éclair laughed softly, bringing one hand up elegantly to cover her mouth. "No, I'm not. But that _is_ what I'm here to talk to you about, I suppose."

"Go ahead. I'll listen," Haruhi grabbed the sugar and stirred a small amount into her tea before tasting it and then adding more. "There's milk in the refrigerator if you want some," she added, polite to a guest by reflex.

"Thank you, but I don't need any milk," Éclair poured a copious amount of sugar into her tea from the bowl, watching the sparkling crystals as they fell and dissolved into nothing. "I suppose you're wondering why I kissed you, aren't you?" Éclair asked, and Haruhi nodded slightly, taking a long, cleansing drink.

"I guess so. I mean… it did really come out of nowhere…"

"I owe you an explanation. I guess in a way, it was a silly little rich girl's way of rebelling," Éclair laughed a bit, though it was not a very pleasant sound. "I've never kissed another girl before, but I couldn't resist. You fascinate me. You're just so… strange. When we first met, you were nothing more to me than the mousy little Japanese boy who was trying to take my fiancé away from me. But now, and when I kissed you… you're the mousy little Japanese girl that my ex-fiancé is in love with, and somehow I find you fascinating. I've never met anyone who spoke so directly before."

"Why shouldn't I speak directly?" Haruhi asked. "What's the point in saying anything if you're not going to be honest and say what you mean?" she swirled her tea a bit with her spoon. "And I'm not trying to be insulting to your theories or anything, but Tamaki-senpai isn't in love with me."

"Of course he is. I'm not sure how much you know, but his eyes say everything. Perhaps you hadn't noticed since it's about you so it's difficult to be impartial, but he's definitely in love with you. I knew it from the moment I first saw him talk to you. Why do you think I was so eager to keep him away from you when we were getting married?"

"Well… earlier he did… say he liked me but… there's no way he's in love with me," Haruhi was arguing more with herself than Éclair at this point, and she watched the blue-eyed girl take a long sip of her tea and then look back at her. _'That would be way too much to ask for…'_

"Of course there is. But he's far too much of a fool to actually confess _love_. He may be a host and a natural charmer of women, but I don't even think he really understands what the word love means. He is the kindest person I've ever met, but subsequently the most idiotic. I didn't think there were people like him in the real world… benevolent but so thick at the same time."

"Don't talk about Tamaki-senpai like that," Haruhi snapped without even thinking, setting her tea down so she wouldn't spill. "He may be a little dense sometimes, but he's not an idiot! I'm not going to sit here and listen to you talk like that about someone that I…"

"Love?" Éclair looked more triumphant than malicious at that moment, drinking silently from her tea for a moment and then smiling slightly.

"I… I don't…" Haruhi wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. "I don't know if I… look, I don't know if I _love_ him. I don't know how deep my feelings for him run. But… regardless of all that, he's still someone I care about. We have too much history together for me not to… care about him as much as I care about my own family. I'm not going to let you insult him."

"You obviously are interested in him," Éclair reasoned, finishing her tea and setting down the empty cup. "So why don't you go and tell him?"

For a moment, Haruhi was too surprised by the suggestion to even react. "What?"

"I may be bitter toward him right now for choosing you over me, but… regardless of what's happened, his mother has been telling me wonderful stories about him and showing me pictures since I was a teenager. The way she's always talked about him… my admiration for that man runs far too deep for me not to want what would make him happy. So go and confess to him, and maybe the fact that he's happy will help me sleep at night back in France. I suppose my 'history' with him is never going to be deeper than those old stories I've heard."

"You're much kinder than you seem," Haruhi said as Éclair stood, sliding the bag she had placed on the floor back over her shoulder. "You seem to put on this very cold and conniving front, but deep down I can tell you care about people. If you care enough about Tamaki-senpai to give him up for his own happiness, then there's no way you're as aloof as you pretend you are."

Éclair smiled a little, brushing her hair back. "Thank you for the tea, Haruhi Fujioka," she said as she turned to walk out of the kitchen. "I hope we'll see each other again."

As suddenly as she had come, Éclair was gone in a flash of bright blue eyes and expensive French perfume, and Haruhi was left alone at the kitchen table with her tea and a rather surprised expression.

"Haruhi?" Ryouji's head peeked back around the corner, and his soft eyes focused on his daughter. He had changed into his normal clothes and his makeup was washed off, making him slightly less boisterous than he had been before. The loud, piercing voice seemed to come more with the fancy dress. "Your friend went home?"

"Yeah," Haruhi smiled a little, slightly distant. "And I hope she does find whatever she's looking for."

"What?"

"Oh, nothing," Haruhi laughed a little, feeling silly, and got up to pour her father a cup of tea. "She just… gave me some pretty good advice just now."

"Oh really? About what?"

"About what we were talking about before, actually, Dad," Haruhi dropped a tea bag into the cup of boiling water and handed the tea to her father. "Careful, it's hot."

"Thank you, Haruhi! Speaking of which… we never did finish that conversation we were having before…"

"I'm sorry, I can't now!" Haruhi said, grabbing her shoes quickly. "I actually have something to do right now."

"And what might that be?" the overprotective redhead asked a little suspiciously, cocking his head. Haruhi turned her head to grin at him, her heart lighter than it had been all week.

"Actually… I have to follow some really good advice."


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I still don't own Ouran. That would be Bisco Hatori. No matter what. If I did own it, Haruhi wouldn't have taken 80 chapters to realize it was time to confess her love to Tamaki XD_

_Well, this is the last chapter, and I hope you all enjoy it (: Thanks so much to all of you that have been reading. Feel free to drop a review to let me know what you thought of the story now that it's finished!_

* * *

Haruhi was not entirely sure why she expected Tamaki to be in music room three, but she followed the gut feeling anyway… mostly because she had no idea where Suoh mansion number 2 was located, and so her feet naturally carried her in the direction of the place where they had spent the most time together. She barely made it onto the train before it departed, leaping at the last moment and making it into a compartment. She dodged strange looks because of her method of entrance all the way to her seat and sat a little out of breath on the familiar route to the academy.

_'Please be there, Tamaki-senpai…'_ she thought desperately, fumbling with the ticket stub in her hands. _'I'm not even sure how else to reach you, and honestly I don't know if I'll still have the courage to do this if I wait until tomorrow…'_

It was nearly noon when Haruhi reached Ouran, jogging all the way there from the train station. Despite the fact that it was Sunday, the school grounds were still bustling with activity. The Ouran Festival was a weeklong event, and this was only the fourth day. Since classes were not in session and so most of the routine students were not expected to be there today, only the outdoor portion of the festival was going on, and Haruhi, still in her dress, received several strange looks from proprietors of the outdoor booths that she had classes with.

"Isn't that Fujioka-kun?" she heard one of her classmates ask.

"He sure does like to crossdress. Even when we have the day off he's doing it!" was the reply, and she had to cover her mouth a little to keep from laughing. She made her way through the bright noon sunshine and past the booths to the school's front doors. The halls were as empty as to be expected for a Sunday, and Haruhi was so distracted that she did not even notice another presence and nearly ran straight into a very solid figure.

"Pardon me," said a rather familiar voice. Haruhi looked up to be met by the sight of the face of none other than Yuzuru Suoh. She was suddenly a little embarrassed to be in such a hurry, and she bowed low.

"Chairman Suoh! Um… excuse me. I'm sorry… I was just in such a hurry that I didn't notice you were--"

"Please, the fault was all mine, Haruhi-chan," Yuzuru took her hand in a very European gesture and kissed it tenderly. "And if you're looking for my hapless son, he's in music room three. He just finished a shift of helping the newspaper club run their booth outside."

"Thank you, Suoh-sama," Haruhi bowed again, overcompensating for the fact that she had nearly bowled him over before. "But how did you know I was looking for him?"

Yuzuru winked. "I know these things," he said. "I wish you the best of luck on your venture." he was gone before Haruhi could ask him to elaborate, which, she mused in hindsight, was probably for the best. She resumed the familiar trek to the third music room, and she could not help but realize she had made countless times, but she had never been quite this nervous in the process. Even that first time, upon opening those doors, she had not felt such a sense of anxiety. The doors opened just as naturally under her hands this time, and she stepped into that familiar room and was met by the soothing sound of Tamaki playing the piano. Letting it wash over her, Haruhi closed the doors behind her and leaned against them, trying to catch her breath.

_'Can I really do this?'_

Tamaki looked relaxed sitting at the piano. The apron he had been wearing to work the booth was sitting beside him on the bench, and his hair was still slightly disheveled from the customary paper hat that seemed to come with the job in Haruhi's experience. His body flowed with the music, as though it was not only his arms and fingers playing but his entire being. The song was one she did not recognize, but the melody was soft and passionate and rather relaxing, and Haruhi moved to stand beside the window and closed her eyes as she let it surround her, not wanting to interrupt. The notes flowed and surged like a turbulent sea, fast and slow, light and hard, until a crashingly passionate crescendo crushed over her and drowned her with its power.

"Tamaki-senpai?" she asked softly as the song died, and Tamaki jumped, clearly thinking himself alone in the room. He turned in her direction, and immediately a smile broke out over his face, replacing the serene expression that had inhabited it before.

"Haruhi!" instantly he was on his feet, moving over to her. His face and voice were confident, but his posture betrayed a tiny ray of nervousness, and it made her a bit more confident in her endeavor knowing she was not the only one afraid. "What are you doing here? Did you come just to see me?"

"Yes, I did," Haruhi swallowed her nervousness and what was left of her pride. "I came to… give you my answer. You said not to hesitate."

"Really?" Tamaki covered his mouth with his hands in a very characteristically Tamaki gesture of excitement, and Haruhi smiled.

"Yes, really…" it was getting harder and harder to squeeze the words out, and she had to swallow several times. "I really thought about it and… I guess what I need to tell you is that I… like you too, senpai. I really, really like you, I guess. And not as your daughter, or as your kouhai. As something a lot more."

"R--really!?" Tamaki asked, his eyes glittering in a way that made Haruhi nearly one hundred percent sure she was about to have the life crushed out of her. She nodded faintly. "Oh, Haruhi, do you mean it!?"

"Of course I mean it," Haruhi kept smiling at him, ignoring the fact that her legs were shaking slightly. "I would never say it if I didn't mean it."

Tamaki was on her before she could think, and this time when he kissed her, there was no nervousness on his part. The force of the kiss and the embrace knocked Haruhi slightly against the window, but she could not find it in her heart to complain. Tamaki wrapped his arms around her and kissed her wholeheartedly and happily with a passion she hadn't expected even from him, smiling rather obviously against her mouth. This time, Haruhi was comforted in the fact that she knew exactly what the kiss meant, and she squeezed her eyes shut and kissed him back clumsily, not knowing exactly how to react when he treaded his fingers tenderly through her hair and lifted her off of the ground, holding her in his arms as he kept kissing her. Haruhi was awkward and inexperienced, but Tamaki did not seem to mind in the least; he kissed her as though it was the last time they would ever see each other.

"I love you, Haruhi," Tamaki whispered, barely parting their lips, and Haruhi was left so starstruck that she could barely think. From what Éclair had said, the concept was certainly not new, but she had never expected that in a million years he would ever actually come out and say those words to her. It was more than enough to make her wonder if this was even reality.

"Tamaki-senpai…" Haruhi whispered, her face hot. "I… really… I really like you. A lot. I don't know if I… _love_ you but… I guess we'll figure this all out as we go, right?"

"Right, right, of course!" Tamaki was beaming his lips still barely a centimeter away from hers. It wasn't as disconcerting as she would have imagined. His breath fluttered warm against her lips. He smelled faintly of fresh apples. "Does this mean we can… go on a date?"

"Uh… yeah," Haruhi smiled rather nervously at him. "Sure. We can go on as many dates as you want, senpai."

"Splendid!" Tamaki squeezed her a little, and Haruhi wheezed, squirming. Her feet still weren't on the floor. "We can go on a date to the festival! We can hold hands and sample the many culinary and artistic fruits of our fellow student's labors! And we can… we can kiss beneath the cherry blossoms!"

"The cherry blossoms aren't blooming at this time of year…"

"And we can stroll together in the warm sunlight, delighting in each other's wonderful company! Oh, Haruhi, can you picture it!?" glitter flew from Tamaki in all directions. He released his tight hold on her and went back to holding her tenderly against him, and Haruhi relaxed slightly, happy to be able to breathe normally once more.

"That actually sounds like fun," she smiled at him slightly. "Were you wanting to go right now?"

"Actually…" Tamaki blushed a little, which made Haruhi more than a little curious. "I think I'd rather stay here for a bit and… kiss you?" he sounded so timid that Haruhi had to smile again. She brought their foreheads together nervously, blushing a bit herself and nodding.

"Sure, senpai. I think… I'd like that," she said softly, and Tamaki shook a bit from the sudden surge of joy and then gave her a winning smile, not the kind that he gave his customers but the one she had never seen him give anyone but her, come to think of it. It was a look full of tenderness and possibilities, and Haruhi, for the first time, was really able to appreciate it.

"I'd like it too," Tamaki whispered, cradling her a little closer and leaning in to kiss her again. Haruhi closed her eyes, slowly falling into the chaste kiss and letting her emotions carry her to a place that she was unfamiliar with, but she did not find entirely unpleasant. She supposed that in time, these feelings, if nurtured, would grow. It was a rather comforting feeling to know that she had all the time in the world to fall in love with the man who held her so steadfastly in his arms and kissed her with the delicate tenderness and love that one would show to a kitten. She knew she had all the time in the world, she mused with a smile, because Tamaki was holding her in a way she had never been held before; in a way that told her he never wanted to let go.

Down in the front courtyard, Éclair Tonnerre raised a pair of cracked golden opera glasses to her eyes and peered up at the spectacle in the window of the third music room. Without a word to the chauffer who stood beside her, she slowly leaned down and set the glasses in the grass, nestled among the emerald green blades.

"You're leaving those?" her chauffer asked her politely, shading his eyes in the sun. "Do you want them to pick them up for you before we go?"

"No, thank you," Éclair shook her head and gave one last rather fond glance to the two people kissing so innocently and so clumsily up in the window above. "I don't think… I'll need them anymore."

Then, with the sun to her face, she turned and walked away from Ouran Academy and away from her resentment toward the couple (it was amusing to refer to the two clueless and endearing fools as a "couple" after everything that had happened). She walked back toward her waiting car, leaving it all behind in favor of what was certainly, she hoped, the best future she could possibly hope for and leaving Tamaki and Haruhi with their own happy future to contend with.

And she did it with a smile.

**The End**


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